Having been a member for several years, I renewed my annual family membership with SkyMed a few days ago in anticipation of my upcoming trip to St. Maarten later this month. Two days after renewing, I received a mail offer from the company, inviting me to extend my membership for an additional year from the original expiration date of 12/31/2014 at a savings of $199. This offer, apparently sent prior to my renewal, cited SkyMed's 25th anniversary and represented an appreciation gift to members. I immediately called SkyMed to request a refund of this amount and was flatly denied. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/cloud.gif" alt="" /> (Jeff Berger, please take note, as you highly promote SkyMed's services). Has anyone else experienced this lack of customer courtesy?

Hi, please send me this by email to jmbweb[at]jmbcommunications.com with your membership number and the rep through whom you joined, if it wasn't me. I'll send it to SkyMed. Thx. -- Jeff (Need your full name & address in the email). Please no PM since I want to FWD.

I have recently had a very poor experience with Sky Med, and do not find your situation at all surprising.

Thanks to the concerned efforts of Jeff Berger, this unfortunate episode has been laid to rest. I have received my refund and an apology from SkyMed. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

In contrast to the coverage implied in the advertising, SkyMed covers evacuation only for sudden and primarily accidental injury or sickness. If you have seen any practitioner for the same condition during the period of six months before to the incident there is no coverage. I found this out in reading the fine print in the policy after signing up; to their credit, they refunded my money. Let the buyer beware.

what other policy would you suggest? I've had SkyMed in past visits and definitely want a policy that will evacuate to your home airport, not the "closest" to SXM. Hopefully, we'll never use it but you never know.

Another service to consider is MedjetAssist. Look at Rules and Regulations under Membership Information, then select a membership type (i.e. regular annual) to see the information for that membership type.

I had not seen Joe's post here previously or I would have responded at once. SkyMed is still trying to figure out who told Joe "no" because it was dead wrong and should never have happened. As soon as Joe called me I contacted SkyMed's CEO and told her what had happened and she was aghast...and upset. They are investigating. In any case, we're all happy the refund is a done deal and Joe has the extra year, and he got the 25th anniversary promo price. SkyMed is a superb company and I've highly recommended them for years -- and have been a rep for more than 10 years now. I never travel anywhere without it.

Two points here in response:

1. SkyMed covers "pre-existing conditions" IN FULL after a waiting period of only 90 days.

2. SkyMed takes you home when you become critically ill or injured. Others take you to the "nearest appropriate facility" which can be thousands of miles from home. SkyMed is by far the best....

That is exactly what SkyMed does. Nobody else promises to do that. If for any reason you become medically unstable during the flight...they will land and get you taken care of; your health is their primary concern and it's the reason they exist.

Many differences between SkyMed and MedJet Assist. MJA requires you to tell them in advance when you're going overseas; they raise your premium when you get older (SkyMed never raises premiums because of age); and MJA cancels coverage when you hit a certain age. SkyMed will let you keep your coverage after acceptance as long as you pay their regular membership fee. Huge differences.

I use Travel Guard and have read the fine print very clearly and they seem very comprehensive. They will even send you home if you have a dental emergency such as falling and breaking your teeth. They will also fly you the the hospital of your choice. Not the closest. My husband likes it because they will fly " you and a companion not necessarily a spouse" home with you. My husband loves that part because he said I can go home with a friend and he can enjoy the rest of his time in St. Maarten. The crumb .....ha ha <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Yikes.gif" alt="" />

Well, I was wrong. Since My experience several years ago, the waiting period has been shortened and the cost lowered. We signed up for our upcoming SXM travel. Apologies to all.